The Art of Trusting
by mattnme04
Summary: Fourth installment to Wrong Number series. Five years into their marriage, will trust come naturally for the couple who have overcome so many obstacles or will one thing cause them to learn the art of trusting all over again? TG
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

I was currently on my way home from work, heading first to pick up my baby girl. Elizabeth had just turned five and would be starting Kindergarten in a few months. I couldn't believe how fast time had gone by.

Elizabeth was still small for her age, having been born prematurely. But the doctors were extremely impressed with how strong she was growing up to be. She was still my little miracle and I couldn't be more blessed to have her in my life.

I still worked at the doctor's office where I had begun working six years ago. I loved my job and loved the hours that I had working there because it still provided me with lots of time to spend with Elizabeth, especially after she would start school.

Elizabeth was still an only child. I had been afraid to have any more after her, and the doctors were concerned about my health, as well, in the case I should decide to have another child. So Troy and I had prevented that as much as we could.

I continued thinking about the people in my life, blessed for each one of them. Kelsi and Ryan had finally gotten married after a series of breaking up and reuniting several times. They had finally decided that being together was the only thing that didn't make them miserable all the time, much like Troy and I. They were miserable when they were apart and Ryan had finally proposed about a year ago. It didn't take long before they were married and Kelsi was pregnant.

Chad and Taylor's family had expanded by one as well. Moira was now 20 years old and was in college, working towards being a teacher. Kiera was now 14, and one of the moodiest teenagers I had ever seen. Aidan was 7 now and had just finished the first grade. And the newest addition to the family, Sophie, was only 3, but much adored by her father. Taylor had been hoping for another boy, but Chad couldn't have been happier to have been given another girl.

Sharpay had finally settled down as well. Not long after Troy and I were married, Sharpay married a man named Craig. Craig was a lawyer and the two of them couldn't be happier with their lives. They still didn't have any children, but Sharpay hoped to have some someday.

Lisa and Mark had finally reconciled. Mark had learned to loosen up and have a little fun like he used to, without all the drugs and alcohol. He had even let Lisa come out and stay with me for a few days. Lisa and I were still close, talking every couple of days on the phone. It was nice to be close to family once again.

Troy's parents moved to New York the year after Elizabeth was born. They wanted to be close to their granddaughter, so they found a house that was about an hour's drive away from us. It was nice to have family so close again, but I missed my family dearly. Troy couldn't have been happier either. When they were in Florida, he hardly ever saw them since he stayed so busy with his music. But now, he could easily go see them on the weekends or they could travel to see him.

I put my mind back onto my driving as I neared my destination. I was happy to be seeing Elizabeth after a long day at work. She always managed to brighten my day. As I pulled up in front of the large house, a wave of familiarity washed over me as I thought about having done this same thing just three short months ago. It was three months ago that the man who was currently opening the door broke my heart.

_I had left Albuquerque, glad to have had the time to visit with the girls and their families, but even more glad to be going back home. I had gone there to be with Kelsi for a few days when she had her baby. Troy should be coming back soon and I was ready for some quality time with him._

_Troy had been away for almost four months on tour and I was missing him something terrible. At first he had kept telling me to fly out to see him, but I was already using part of my vacation time to see Kelsi and I was trying to save the rest for some time after he was done with the tour so the two of us could escape to somewhere. We had never taken a honeymoon, so I felt we deserved one. As the weeks wore on, though, Troy's persistence at me joining him finally wore off until he was no longer asking. Our conversations had become shorter and fewer. I knew he was busy, so I didn't think anything of it._

_But now I was back in New York after being in Albuquerque for a week. I took the week to go see Kelsi and help her and Ryan out. I felt slightly guilty, thinking I probably should have used that time to go see Troy, but he was finishing up his tour and he said he'd be spending a lot of time in Los Angeles doing some work on his next record. So I figured he was probably pretty busy at this point. He had encouraged me to go ahead to Albuquerque and he would see me when we both got back._

_When I got back, however, I was expecting to still have about a week alone at home with Elizabeth before he would get back. What I didn't expect, though, was to find a woman walking out our front door as I pulled up in the driveway. Troy was standing at the door with a smile on his face…that was until he saw me. His expression changed the moment our eyes met. I was trying to read the expression, so many emotions mixed in his eyes. He broke contact with me, though, when he caught sight of Elizabeth as we made our way to the door. He grabbed her and had a huge grin on his face as he picked her up and twirled her around._

"_I missed you so much, Baby Girl!"_

_Elizabeth kept giggling. I gave him an uncertain look as I wasn't really sure what to think about a woman leaving our house, trying to figure out who she was._

"_Elizabeth, why don't you go on up to your room so your mommy and I can talk," he said as he put her back down. She ran into the house and I heard her stomping up the stairs._

_I kept my distance for a moment, unsure of how to approach him. I had missed him so much while he had been away. But things seemed strained between us. We hadn't talked in a while, which wasn't normal for us. But now, I came home to find a woman leaving our house when he wasn't even supposed to be here? What happened to being in Los Angeles recording for the next week? Why did he lie? Was he cheating?_

_Troy took a step towards me. I was still standing on our sidewalk about six feet from the door. "Hey baby, I'm so glad you're home."_

"_Who was she?" I asked, even though I really didn't want the answer. Troy just stood there and looked at me, not saying a word. "Who was she, Troy?" I asked, a little louder this time. "Are you cheating on me?"_

"_Baby, calm down. I'm not cheating on you. I would never do that. Don't you have any more trust in me than that?"_

"_Well I'm not sure I should, Troy. You definitely lied to me. You told me you would still be in Los Angeles. What should I think?"_

"_Baby, believe me, it's not what you think. I thought you would be happy that I was home early…" He kept walking closer to me until he was standing in front of me, reaching out to touch my face._

_I stepped back from him and noticed the pain flash in his eyes. "Don't touch me. I can't believe you, Troy. I loved you. And then you betray me like this. What? You thought you could have her out of OUR house by the time I got back?"_

"_Gabi, please. You have to believe me."_

"_Why don't you start by explaining to me who she was? Did you meet her while you were on tour?"_

"_No…a friend introduced me to her. But she doesn't mean anything to me. You gotta believe me."_

"_You keep saying that, but I'm sorry. I'm not buying it. Why won't you just tell me who she is?"_

"_She's just a woman. I was talking to her. She's helping me out with something." His eyes pleaded with me to believe him, but he wasn't coming clean. He was hiding something, and it didn't make me feel any better about the situation. Why wouldn't he just tell me the truth?_

_"What is she helping you with?"_

_There was something about the look in Troy's eyes that was pleading with me not to make him answer that question. "She...she's just helping me with something I can't do myself."_

_I shook my head at him, disappointed. He was definitely hiding something, and his answers weren't making me feel any better about the situation. "I'm sorry, Troy. I can't believe you."_

_Over the next couple of days, I had asked Troy once again who she was, but he still was very vague with details. I knew he was hiding something, but I just couldn't get it out of him. By the end of the week, I couldn't take it any more. I couldn't live with him knowing that he felt okay hiding things from me and lying to me. I couldn't live with someone who didn't feel I was enough for him anymore._

I had packed my bags while he was at work one day, along with Elizabeth's. Before he had gotten home that day, Elizabeth and I were out of the house, the only thing left was a note.

That day was three months ago, and he had yet to fess up to that situation. Elizabeth and I had moved out into a small apartment that I could easily afford on my salary along with the money that Troy had sent to me for Elizabeth.

As I stood there looking at Troy now, I saw a lot of pain in his eyes as he looked at me and wondered if I was doing the right thing by still planning on keeping the appointment I had with my lawyer tomorrow. I still loved him…but was love really enough?


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! It's been a while since I have posted anything, but this is something I wrote several months ago and never got posted. There's only one more chapter after this one unless you want more, then I may be able to write some more to go with it. Hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter 2**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

I missed her…I missed her like nothing else. Thankfully she still allowed me to see Elizabeth as often as I wanted when I was able to in between recording and doing shows. She even brought Elizabeth to a couple of local shows. Elizabeth had grown up listening to me sing and loved getting to go to the shows. I had always hoped that Gabriella would finally quit her job at the doctor's office and come on the road with me, but she never did.

Now I was sitting in a big empty house, a place I never thought I would have to be - alone. I never thought I would have to live another day without her. I thought we were okay.

_I had gotten really busy with my tour and hadn't had as much time to spend on the phone. With her working, she hadn't been able to stay up on the phone like we used to. By about the third month that I had been gone, our phone conversations were beginning to trail off. Every time I was on the phone with her, it seemed as if she didn't want to be on there. After a couple of weeks of feeling like that, our phone conversations eventually just dropped off._

_Finally, after not talking to her for a couple of weeks, I was able to go home. I got to a stopping point in my recording and told Steven I was done for now. I needed a break and I needed to see my family._

_I knew Gabriella was away taking care of Kelsi and couldn't wait for them to get back. However, while I knew Gabriella was away, I wanted to try to get started on a project that had come to mind before I went on tour and had taken shape in my mind over the past couple of months...a project that would end up being the perfect gift for Gabriella. I decided that since Gabriella was gone, it was the perfect time to bring in an expert. I had a room I wanted remodeled in our house just for Gabriella. I called in an interior designer, one who had come highly recommended by a friend of mine._

_She came by the house and took a look at the room. We sat down and wrote down some ideas that I had for the room. She took the ideas and left. I walked her to the door, excited for this project to get started. I had a smile on my face as I stood at the door, about to close it when I noticed Gabriella and Elizabeth getting out of the car. I suddenly got nervous. I had been so excited to see them, but now as I looked at my beautiful wife, I wasn't sure what to do. We hadn't talked in so long, I was afraid it might be slightly awkward. I was determined not to make it that way though._

_Elizabeth came running up to me and wrapped me in a big hug. I picked her up and swung her around, making her giggle, before putting her back on the ground._

"_I missed you so much, Baby Girl!" Elizabeth just kept giggling. I put her down and looked back over to Gabriella. "Elizabeth, why don't you go on up to your room so your mommy and I can talk," I said. She ran into the house._

_I watched Gabriella closely. Something about the way she was standing there made me really nervous. I had hoped she would at least act excited to see me, but she stood several feet away, not moving, no expression on her face, but lots of questions in her eyes._

_I took a tentative step towards her. "Hey baby, I'm so glad you're home," I said, meaning every word. I was so excited to see her. I just wanted to hold her and touch her._

"_Who was she?" she asked. I knew who she was talking about, but I wasn't sure how to explain it to her without giving away the surprise. "Who was she, Troy?" she asked a little louder when I still hadn't given her a response. "Are you cheating on me?"_

_This question caught me off guard. I hadn't even thought about it appearing that way. "Baby, calm down. I'm not cheating on you," I said. "I would never do that. Don't you have any more trust in me than that?"_

"_Well I'm not sure I should, Troy. You definitely lied to me. You told me you would still be in Los Angeles. What should I think?"_

_I was determined I was going to make this right again, but I wasn't sure how to explain who the woman was. With the thoughts that were going through her head, would she believe me?_

"_Baby, believe me, it's not what you think," I said, walking closer to her still until I was standing right in front of her. "I thought you would be happy that I was home early…" I reached out to touch her face but she stepped back out of reach. That was like a stab in the heart._

"_Don't touch me. I can't believe you, Troy. I loved you," she said. Loved. Did that mean she didn't love me anymore? "And then you betray me like this. What? You thought you could have her out of OUR house by the time I got back?" She was fuming by now. I had to fix this, I had to calm her down._

"_Gabi, please. You have to believe me."_

"_Why don't you start by explaining to me who she was? Did you meet her while you were on tour?"_

"_No…a friend introduced me to her. But she doesn't mean anything to me. You gotta believe me," I begged. _

"_You keep saying that, but I'm sorry. I'm not buying it. Why won't you just tell me who she is?"_

"_She's just a woman. I was just talking to her." I looked at her, pleading with her to believe what I was saying. I could still see the anger in her eyes. "She's helping me out with something."_

_"What is she helping you with?"_

_I was begging her not to make me answer that question. I didn't want to lie to her...but I wanted to surprise her. I wanted this to be my anniversary gift to her. "She...she's just helping me with something I can't do myself," I finally responded truthfully._

_She shook her head at me. "I'm sorry, Troy. I can't believe you."_

_She walked past me into the house. That night and each night for the next week, she slept in our guest bedroom. I hardly saw her. She kept herself distanced except for when she tried to talk to me about the woman. But not only did I not want to tell her about the surprise, but more than that I had a feeling she wasn't going to believe me no matter what I said. So I just didn't say anything at all. It was killing me knowing she wouldn't trust what I said, but considering my record, what did she have to trust me with?_

_By the end of the week, she was out of the house. I had been at work all day. I came in to a quiet house that evening, hoping that since it was the weekend, we'd be able to get past everything and spend some quality time as a family. However, what I found shattered my heart into even tinier pieces than it already was. She had left me a note on the counter telling me she had taken Elizabeth and moved into an apartment. She told me I could call and talk to Elizabeth any time I wanted to and that I could see Elizabeth when I wanted, but that she wouldn't be back in that house. She told me she couldn't live with someone who hid things from her and who she couldn't trust._

Now, three months later, she had stood outside my door once again to pick up Elizabeth. I had taken some time off since Steven had told me I was too distracted. During my time off, I told Gabriella I wanted to spend as much time as I could with Elizabeth so she agreed to leave Elizabeth with me during the day while she went to work.

So here I sat, just minutes after she took my daughter. I was alone in a big, dark house with nothing to do and no one to talk to. I was still going through with the project though, hoping that one day Gabriella would get to at least see it and hopefully appreciate it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's the last chapter unless readers decide they want more. Leave me a review and let me know! Hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter 3**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

Troy had finally gone back to work, and Gabriella had started taking Elizabeth back to the child care facility she had used before. Gabriella had picked her up after work, knowing Troy was working a little later tonight than normal before coming to pick Elizabeth up for his weekend with her.

Gabriella heard the knock on the door, knowing it was Troy, and told Elizabeth to go grab her bag while she answered the door. She still got nervous every time she was around Troy, old feelings still surfacing just when she looked at him. She wasn't completely sure how to act around him anymore.

She opened the door and all her nerves were very much present as she invited him into the apartment. Troy stepped in and looked around, noticing it was still the same as it had been a couple weeks ago when he had been there before.

"Hi," Troy said, finally deciding to be the first to speak up. He hated all the silence that surrounded them when they were finally together. It felt like they had reverted back to their old ways before they had officially started dating and every little thing screwed up their relationship. Over the past couple weeks, he had been trying more and more to get Gabriella to hear him out over the whole reason the woman had been there, but each time he brought it up, she cut him off telling him she didn't want to hear it. He just wanted to voice all his thoughts and emotions once before the divorce was finalized.

He felt it was almost a lost cause, though.

Elizabeth walked back into the room carrying her bag for the weekend. "You ready to go, baby girl?" Troy asked.

Elizabeth nodded. "Mommy, why can't we live with Daddy anymore?" she asked quietly, looking up at Gabriella.

Gabriella tensed up at her question, not sure exactly how to answer it. Troy spoke up for her. "Because, baby girl, Mommy isn't very happy with Daddy right now and Daddy knows that the only way to make Mommy happy is for you guys to live here."

Elizabeth's eyes became glossy with tears. "But I thought you loved Mommy."

Troy let out a sigh as he knelt down in front of Elizabeth, bringing her into an embrace, struggling with words as his own emotions took over. "I do, sweetheart, so much. But sometimes when you love someone as much as I love your mommy, you have to let them go do things that will make them happier, even if it makes you sad." Troy looked up at Gabriella to notice that she too had tears in her eyes.

Troy stood up, grabbing Elizabeth's bag in one hand as Elizabeth nodded and reached for the door. "Bye Mommy."

"Bye, Sweetie," Gabriella said, still struggling with her tears.

Elizabeth opened the door and ran over to the elevator. Troy chanced another look at Gabriella. "Bye Gabriella. I'll bring her back on Sunday." He walked out the door, but just before he shut it, he looked back at her once more and whispered, "I'm so sorry."

Gabriella broke down in sobs as they left. She kept to herself the entire weekend, not moving far from her bed, which is where she had planted herself the moment Elizabeth and Troy had left on Friday.

On Sunday evening, Troy returned with Elizabeth, saying he would see her again in a couple of weeks.

Over the next few weeks, Troy ran into Gabriella a few times outside of picking Elizabeth up. It seemed she was becoming more open to talking to him. She felt it was important they were sociable for Elizabeth's sake, though she refused to talk about anything personal, especially if it had to do with their relationship.

As Troy was finally able to get back on Gabriella's good side, he felt that he might still hold a chance.

The night before Gabriella's final meeting with her lawyer, she went to drop Elizabeth off at Troy's. Troy was supposed to have the papers signed for her so she could give them to her lawyer at the meeting.

What she didn't expect when she walked up to Troy's house, was for the same woman she had seen leave there a few months ago to open the door as she was preparing to ring the doorbell. The woman smiled at Gabriella as Troy walked up behind her holding the door open.

The woman turned around and looked at Troy one last time. "I'll see you on Saturday, right?"

"Yeah, Saturday would be great. Bye, Cindy." Troy looked over and noticed Gabriella and Elizabeth standing there. "Hey, guys!" Troy reached down and picked Elizabeth up, squeezing her and tickling her sides as he brought her inside.

Gabriella followed with Elizabeth's bag, tense and feeling awkward after seeing another woman leave Troy's, knowing they had plans to meet up again. She sat the bag down as Troy put Elizabeth back on the floor.

"Elizabeth, come here, sweetie. I need a hug before I go." Elizabeth walked over to Gabriella. "I love you, sweetie. Be good for Daddy and I'll see you on Sunday, okay?"

Elizabeth nodded. "I love you too, Mommy."

Gabriella stood up and looked at Troy. "Do you have the papers, Troy? I told you I need them tomorrow."

He looked at her, pain clearly seen in his eyes. "Gabi…" he whispered. She hadn't heard him call her that in several months. She closed her eyes. "Gabi, can we please talk?" She heard Troy whisper to Elizabeth to take her bag to her room and play with her toys for a while so he and Mommy could talk. "Gabi, I really need to talk to you."

"Troy, I don't think there's anything to talk about. You've moved on and you're happy now with someone else. Why can't you let me move on?"

"Because I haven't moved on, Gabi. I love you so much, and I've never stopped."

Gabriella shook her head. "Stop telling me lies, Troy. I can't stand to listen to your lies any more. Just get me the papers and I'll be out of here."

Troy shook his head and grabbed her hand, pulling her to the stairs. "Not until I show you something first." His eyes pleaded with her until she gave in, pulling her hand from his, but still following him up the stairs.

Memories came crashing down on her as she walked through the house, a house the couple had made so many memories in together during the time they had been together. Troy led Gabriella to the spare bedroom she had used during that first week they split up. What surprised her, though, was that it no longer looked like a bedroom at all.

Instead, it was an art studio, set up with most of the necessary supplies.

_Gabriella laid in bed, her arm slung over Troy, as their breaths regulated back to normal. Troy had been gone a lot lately and she had missed him terribly. But his homecoming was always her favorite time, knowing what kind of responses each would have by the time Elizabeth was put to bed._

"_Troy, I've been thinking…" Troy shifted so he could see her better as she looked up at his face. "Since you're away so much, I've been thinking about finding me a place that I can start up painting again. I miss doing that, and it would give me something to do while you're away."_

_Troy leaned down and kissed her. "I think that's a great idea."_

"_I wish I had an art studio…or somewhere here at home that was set aside for me to paint sometimes."_

"_We'll figure something out…" Little did Gabriella know that Troy was already in the process of putting together a plan…_

"What…? How did you….? When did you…?" Gabriella couldn't seem to get a full sentence formed. She finally looked up at Troy who was studying her reaction the entire time she looked around the room. "Why did you do this?" she finally asked.

"Because I love you," he said, his voice showing nothing but sincerity.

"But…but I don't live here."

Troy nodded. "But you did when I started it."

Gabriella snapped her gaze back to him, studying him. "When did you start this?" she asked quietly, almost afraid of the answer she would receive.

"A few months ago when you went to Albuquerque to see Kelsi."

"What?" Gabriella whispered.

Troy took a deep breath, moving so he was standing directly in front of Gabriella and taking both her hands in his. "You remember that horrible day when you came back from Albuquerque and found a woman…Cindy…walking out of the house?" She nodded and he saw the pain in her eyes at Cindy being mentioned. "Well, she was here that day starting this project. I had her come in and look at the place, hoping that she would be able to do it secretly without you knowing. Hoping that with the time off I was going to have, I could have her come in for a while during the day while you were at work and she could get it done…as an anniversary gift."

Gabriella had tears running down her face. "So…this woman…was only here to work on this? For me?"

Troy nodded his head sadly. "She was here again today to try to finish it up, but I told her I knew that Elizabeth was coming and we wouldn't be able to finish it up tonight. That's why she's coming back Saturday…to finish it…for you."

Gabriella broke down in sobs. "I can't believe you went through with this project. Why did you finish it? Why would you do something like this with the way I treated you? I was horrible to you and all you did was love me."

Troy smiled sadly at her before bringing her into his arms, a smile coming to his face at how good it felt to have her back near him again, to be able to touch her again. "You didn't know…"

"But why didn't you tell me sooner? Why did you let me think the worst of you?"

"Because I knew you wouldn't believe me. Believe me, there were so many times that I tried, but you didn't want to talk." Gabriella looked up at Troy, knowing the words were true. She wouldn't have believed him, not at that point. "I'm sorry I caused you to lose your trust in me. Can I ever earn it back?"

Gabriella let out a sigh, bringing her hand up to Troy's face. "You already have. I love you so much, Troy." Troy leaned down to press his lips against Gabriella's as she melted into his embrace, loving being back in his arms after so long. It was the only place she belonged. "I'm sorry I didn't have any more trust in you than that. I just wish that we hadn't let it go this far."

"Well, let's just be glad it didn't go any further," he said, thinking about the unsigned divorce papers that were downstairs. He couldn't even pick up the pen to sign them. He felt her nod against him. "So I guess you have an appointment that you need to cancel?" Troy asked, still feeling a little nervous that she would walk out on him again at any moment.

She took a deep breath, looking at the floor as she stepped away from Troy a little. "Well one of them I do, but the other one I still need to keep."

Troy looked at her, worry, nervousness, and confusion in his eyes. "What…uh…what appointment do you have to keep?" He reached up to scratch the back of his neck, nervously waiting for her reply.

Gabriella smiled and stepped back towards him. "Well, correct me if I'm wrong here, but I think I have an appointment with my husband to make things up to him…preferably in the bedroom…"

Troy finally made eye contact with her as he realized what she said. He let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding and smiled, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to him. "You would be absolutely correct." He leaned down and kissed her again. "Now…about this other appointment…"

Gabriella let out a content sigh as she leaned against Troy's chest. "I'll go call my lawyer right now," she said, stepping back to go downstairs where her cell phone was.

Later that night, Gabriella laid in bed with Troy. She had left long enough that day to go get a few of her clothes so she could stay the night with Troy. She had the next day off of work, so she and Troy spent a little extra time in bed that morning until Elizabeth came to wake them up. Gabriella noticed a brighter smile on her face that she hadn't seen there in several months - one that hadn't been there since before Troy's last tour when he and Gabriella had truly been together.


End file.
